Ben Templesmith: werewolves, sodomites and leprechauns.
Posted by Ms Harker | Filed under Graphic Novels, Horror Genres
I have been on somewhat of a Templesmith comic book binge of late. This has been driven by a love of his artwork and a bizarre patriotic drive to support a fellow Aussie. I think he is producing some of the best ‘horror’ material currently in the comic world. Now I don’t want to get all artsy fartsy on you but his use of colour and creation of mood are what I feel make him stand out from the crowd. Most people would be familiar with his artwork in the 30 Days of Night original graphic novel written by Steve Niles (another legend), I have also previously written about his writing (which often has a rank black twisted sense of humour *sigh*) and illustration of ‘30 Days of Night: Red Snow’.
More recently I have been making my way through the ‘Wormwood:Gentleman Corpse’ series which continues Templesmith’s tradition of black humour and horrific looking characters that you learn to love, see below for the Queen of the Leprachuans, one of my personal favourites!
I cannot gush enough about his latest graphic novel ‘Welcome To Hoxford’ set in a prison for the criminally insane where the inmates are societies most twisted sodomites and cannibals and the staff are even more NQR. Again Templesmith creates a dark and twisted environment which contrasts with the brutality of the inmates crimes and eventual demise (also a werewolf cop’s it in the arse, if anyone has seen that in another comic I’d like to hear it!).
However having just read his blog entry on MTV’s Splash Page I was both pleased and interested to hear his comments on what horror comics are/are not.
Templesmith discusses good horror being about mood and situation, also what you don’t see. Which for me is what makes good horror whether it be in comic or movie form. However he also discusses what he deems horror not to be in the latest slew of reinvented classic’s to hit the shelves:
“I can tell you what isn’t horror: Most comics. Most comics these days seem to take classic “monsters” and reset them in power fantasy, detective, romance or just plain all-out brawl stories. They try to be edgy like that, and most miss the point. Most are drawn in the same or very similar style to superhero comics. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying comics that take what are termed “classical horror” and give them a bit of a new spin are crap, I’m just saying they’re not exactly horror. They’re trading on horror but are actually producing something else.”
Interestingly he doesn’t feel that the ‘Wormwood’ series is within the horror genre, naming it as ‘dark, black humor… with horror trimmings’. Splitting hairs? Maybe, I think it has elements of horror with a sci-fi twist (*gasp*, dare I mention sci-fi in horror blog!).
Whether you are into comics/graphic novels or not, if you are into horror, Templesmith in my opinion is the best out there at the moment and you would be well served to pick up some of his material.
Ms Harker
P.S Keep and eye put for his upcoming new graphic novel Bram Stoker Dracula! Oh and thanks to Ben Templesmith’s flickr site for the pictures.
Tags: Horror, Horror Comics
